Cri-du-chat syndrome

Cri-du-chat syndrome, also called 5p− syndrome, cat cry syndrome, or Lejeune syndrome, congenital disorder caused by partial deletion of the short arm of chromosome 5. It is named for its characteristic symptom, a high-pitched wailing cry likened to that of a cat (the name is French for “cat cry”), which occurs in most affected infants. It has an incidence of roughly 1 in every 15,000 to 50,000 live births and occurs across all ethnic groups. It was first described by French geneticist Jérôme-Jean-Louis-Marie Lejeune and colleagues in 1963.

The cat cry, which typically diminishes with age, is accompanied, to varying degrees, by symptoms of intellectual disability, mild facial abnormalities, anomalies of dermal ridge patterns (fingerprints, palm prints, and footprints), heart malformations, a small head (microencephaly), an excessive space between the eyes (ocular hypertelorism), and a failure to thrive. The severity of symptoms appears to be related to the size of the chromosomal deletion, with larger deletions being associated with more severe symptoms and greater developmental delay.

Cri-du-chat syndrome is diagnosed in infants and young children on the basis of clinical symptoms and may be confirmed through chromosomal analysis. It may be detected prior to birth through prenatal genetic testing on samples of placental or fetal tissue collected by chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis, respectively. Language therapy, physical therapy, and educational intervention can be used to help improve the quality of life of affected individuals.

The minority of cri-du-chat cases are inherited; the parent who carries the genetic abnormality typically is unaffected by the disorder, owing to a phenomenon known as balanced translocation (chromosomal rearrangement in which there is no net gain or loss of genetic material). The remainder of cases are caused by random chromosomal deletion during fetal development or during the generation of eggs and sperm.

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This article was most recently revised and updated by Kara Rogers, Senior Editor.

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